


OffLine

by space_ally



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Graphic Description, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Mission Fic, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:40:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25454824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/space_ally/pseuds/space_ally
Summary: Marcus is supposed to go on a dangerous mission alone. Wrench isn't having it.
Relationships: Marcus Holloway & Wrench, Marcus Holloway/Wrench
Comments: 14
Kudos: 117





	OffLine

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for "An Eye for an Eye"
> 
> This is my first work in this fandom, it's un-beta'd and I couldn't bring myself to stop writing until I had gotten it out of my head so now it's almost three in the morning and I have feelings about these characters.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't really know technical terms and how their stuff works (but do the developers?)
> 
> Enjoy!

It was a rainy day and Wrench was in a mood. Not that the rain had anything to do with his mood. Probably. Maybe?

Marcus actually couldn’t recall a day Wrench hadn’t been in a mood, however, today was different. Worse. 

Passing his workbench, he caught a glimpse of the punk’s shattered phone display and tried to lighten his steps as to not push the guy any further. It was no use as Wrench spun around to face him, the leds of his mask revealing a suspicious expression. 

For a second, they just stared at each other, Marcus standing still like a deer caught in a headlight, Wrench inspecting him silently. 

“Have you seen Ray?” Wrench suddenly asked and Marcus let go of the breath he held. He shook his head, relaxing his shoulders and taking a step back, feeling the tension leave his body as he couldn’t detect any aggression in the other’s voice. 

“Nah, and I don’t expect him here this early to be honest. The sun hasn’t even set yet.”

Wrench snarled, turning his back to Marcus, muttering angrily under his breath. Jesus, the guy switched emotions faster than anything. 

Marcus could make out Wrench muttering something along the lines of: “He wanted us here by five and now he’s late. Fucking dick.”

Marcus knew better than to try and appease his friend so he let himself roll over the backrest of the lonely sofa in the Hackerspace, pulling his cap into his face, resting his eyes. 

He couldn’t possibly have slept for long when he was woken up by Sitara shoving his feet aside so she could sit down as well. 

Marcus moved his feet to give her some space and shoved up his cap again so he could properly see. 

Josh was typing away at his keyboard in his corner, Sitara was scrolling through social media and Wrench was repeatedly smashing some device against his bench. Ray pulled a chair over to sit across Marcus and Sitara, a beer in his hand. All in all a pretty usual set-up for the group, especially right before a briefing. 

“If I could have your attention-”Ray began, each word accompanied by a slam coming from Wrench’s workbench. Ray sighed and started over again, the same phenomenon happening again so he simply walked over, took what appeared to be a bluetooth speaker, from the other Hacker and resumed, not without any protest from Wrench. 

“If you two could stop behaving like children, we could get this over with already” Sitara complained, even Josh had stopped typing to observe the interaction. 

“If he had been on time, it would be over already” Wrench replied angrily and walked over to Josh to sit down next to him, bringing as much room between him and Ray as possible. 

“Anyway” Ray chose to ignore him, throwing the speaker back onto the workbench, “There’s this small office I came across recently and I’m convinced they operate for Blume but under a different name. No one needs this much security for a company no one ever heard of before. We need someone on the inside to look into what exactly they’re doing and to stop whatever it might be.”

He turned to Marcus.

“There’s just one thing, before we hack into their internal communication network, we won’t be able to uphold any communication as they blocked reception around the entire building. I have blueprints and a few aerial shots, that’s it. We’re basically going in blind.”

“You mean M is going in blind” Wrench spoke up. 

Raymond nodded. 

“What is the name of the company?” Josh asked without turning away from his screen. 

“OffLine” Sitara replied, pulling up her leg to rest her head on her knee. The room fell silent except for the keyboard sounds coming from Josh. 

“Ray is right, there is nothing more on how the place is set up. I did look into their employees however and they don’t employ a security company. It’s a private military company. Whatever they’re hiding in there, it’s guarded by heavily armed and military trained people.”

Wrench sprung up from his spot next to Josh. 

“That’s a suicide mission!”

Marcus scratched the back of his head, processing the new information. 

“Josh, can you find out how many people work there?” he asked, still on the fence about the whole thing. 

“About 50 people that I can find records of. Could be more. I can’t tell you a definitive number.”

Marcus nodded, feeling the other team member’s looks on him. 

“I think I can do it.”

“You’re not going to do it!” Wrench protested, looking at Sitara, then Ray, then back to Sitara, “Would you really let him go through with that? Alone? He could get killed!”

“He’s the only one they don’t have files on” Sitara answered truthfully but her expression revealed her own doubts about the whole thing. 

“Oh so you two talked about it before telling any of us? Fine, let’s just blow the whole fucking place up. Fuck whatever it is they’re doing. We’ll strike should they try to rebuild their shit.”

Ray intervened: “We don’t know if they’re harming anyone. We don’t know if there are innocent people at risk. Blowing it all up is not the way to go.”

Wrench was now standing directly in front of Ray, who had gotten up from his chair as well, the two men staring into each other’s eyes or, in Ray’s case, into the leds of Wrench’s mask. 

“He’s not going in there. Your plan, you go.”

“We both know he’s the most agile, the fastest and I already explained that they have a file on all of us. He’s the only one who can go.”

Something in the way Wrench was standing there caused Marcus to feel uneasy. He had seen his friend angry before, he had seen violent outbursts, but never against his own teammates. Even though he and Ray disagreed a lot and butted heads even more often, they never had to fear physical violence. 

Right now, the whole room was tense, awaiting who would snap first. 

Marcus got up as slowly as possible, stepping in between the two opposing parties, feeling like separating two dogs ready to go at their throats. 

He was facing Wrench, trying to reason with him: “Wrench, I can do this. I appreciate your concern but in the end it’s my decision. No need to fight over this, okay?”

The leds of Wrench’s mask flickered through a bunch of different displays of emotion, making it impossible to read the hacker. However, there was a silent plead in his electronically enhanced voice when he asked: “Please don’t. It’s too dangerous.”

Marcus was too focused on his friend’s face, or the lack thereof, to notice Wrench’s hands reaching out to his but stopping themselves at the last minute. 

“What if they’re hurting someone? They need to be stopped.”

“What if they hurt you?!” Wrench fired back, his worry turning into anger. 

Sitara suddenly got up, pulling Marcus away from Wrench, “Okay boys, that’s enough. We’ll sleep it over, alright? I don’t like the energy here. Let’s talk it over tomorrow, yes?”

Ray and Marcus nodded, Wrench didn’t reply, only balling his hands into fists. Sitara seemed okay with the reaction before she headed out because she had other things to do. Ray left without saying anything, just waving in the general direction of the remaining group members. Marcus said goodbye to Josh and Wrench but the latter didn’t reply. When he was gone, Wrench let himself fall back onto the chair next to Josh. 

They sat in silence, Josh buried in his work, Wrench just staring at nothing until he suddenly jolted up: “Fuck, ow, what the fuck!”

Josh didn’t look up when he said: “Your tears must have hit a non-insulated cable causing that shock. You should think about rewiring it.”

“Thanks, Josh” Wrench replied, sounding defeated, before he left as well. 

***

“The audacity of lecturing me about being late while being late himself…” Ray grumbled, earning a warning glance from Sitara. 

“I don’t think he was really angry about that in the first place” Marcus spoke up, “He was already in a bad mood before that and probably got vocal about the first thing he could think of.”

“Doesn’t make him any less late” Ray replied.

The inevitable discussion and following decision were still standing in the room, looming, but the entire group had decided to wait for Wrench before bringing it up again, yet the guy in question was three hours late already, even beating Ray’s hour from the day before.

“Can you try calling him, Josh? He doesn’t pick up any of our calls. Maybe he’ll pick up yours?” Sitara asked. Josh didn’t seem convinced but tried his luck, not surprised when he was sent to voicemail.

“Maybe he’s at the garage?” Sitara bit her lip, thinking, “But he knows we were going to meet up today. And he’s never been this late before.”

“I went by the garage on my way here to pick him up but he wasn’t there” Marcus answered, the worry harboring in his chest starting to make him feel nauseous, “I even went by that donut shop he likes but no one knew where he was.”

“Ping his phone” Sitara advised Josh, noticing her demanding ask she added a “Please”. 

There was the tipping sound accompanied by mouse clicks, a nervous foot tapping (Sitara), beard scratching (Ray) and almost silent humming (Marcus) with the crew surrounding Josh, waiting for results. 

“I can’t find a current location, something’s blocking me from accessing it. I can tell you his last accessible location though.”

Marcus looked alarmed: “Fuck, I’m so stupid!”

It took the rest of the group a minute to catch on, except for Josh who seemed to have understood way before Marcus. 

“OffLine” Sitara spat out what everyone was thinking, “He didn’t want Marcus going in so he went himself.”

“That fucking idiot, they probably recognised him instantly!” Ray cursed and Marcus paled, panic rising up in him as he remembered the last time one of the DedSec members had gone missing. 

“I’m going after him.”

***

Marcus was going way past the speed limit. 

“Remember, there won’t be any communication possible once you’re in until you disrupt their jamming transmitter” Josh let him know through their communication channel, Sitara adding: “Do that as soon as possible so we know you’re okay.”

Marcus was close to the perimeters now, the effect of the company’s jammer already evident as the DedSec channel started rustling. The last thing he heard was Sitara’s “Be careful” before the line went dead. 

He spotted a familiar van parked next to a small side building not yet part of the big warehouse surrounded by tall fences with barbed wire on top. He parked next to the Van, investigating it first, hoping Wrench had changed his mind about the whole ordeal. 

He hadn’t. The car was empty. 

“Fucking hell, Wrench, why are you like this?” Marcus cursed under his breath, sneaking around the fenced area where he found a part that was messily cut open by a bolt cutter, big enough for someone to climb through. 

Following Wrench’s metaphorical footsteps, he stayed close to the tall grass surrounding the large building to avoid being spotted, until he reached an outlet of an air vent. 

“Don’t tell me you went in there” Marcus murmured but upon rattling the mesh in front of it, it loosened, as if had been opened before, and revealed his way in. 

“The shit I do for you, man” Marcus climbed into the vent and felt a cold breeze accompanied by the sensation of feeling trapped like a fish in a tin can. He shoved his feelings of anxiety away crawling forwards, hearing people talk somewhere, unable to locate them. He went around a left turn and suddenly slided downwards, crashing face first onto brick ground.

Opening his eyes he was relieved to find the room he landed in to be empty apart from an object to his right. 

Still dizzy from the fall, Marcus stumbled to his feet, taking a closer look around the room. 

The air vent he had come through was bent and broken in the place he had fallen, the other end of it too high up to reach. He was in a windowless room with a metal door in front of him. Walking closer he also identified the item on the right as Wrench’s mask.

He didn’t realise his hands were shaking until he was picking it up carefully, stashing it away in his bag, his heart rate speeding up. He couldn’t imagine Wrench taking it off and just leaving it and the fact that the room was empty, a detail that hadn’t worried him before, suddenly added to his concerns. 

“Focus” he urged himself and crouched down, opening the metal door. 

Luckily it didn’t make a sound and he could escape the room quietly, hiding behind a large, wooden box. He peeked inside and regretted it immediately. The entire box was filled with guns and ammunition and it was not the only box in that storage space. 

Out of the corner of his eye, something caught his attention. It was a power chord leading into a room that seemed much like the one he just came out of. If Marcus was right, the chord could lead him to their internal communication outlets and maybe even the jammer. 

A few armed people were patrolling the space, by the size of the warehouse it was impossible to determine how many, especially with them scattered all over the place. 

Avoiding conflict as much as possible, he sneaked past the guards and more of the wooden boxes. He had to take down two armed guards right in front of the room, hiding their bodies as well as possible in his limited space and time. 

The room itself seemed to be a little more tricky.

He couldn't see inside and through the walls surrounding it he couldn't hear anyone but he didn't know if there would be anyone awaiting him when he opened the door. 

Gripping his Taser closer, he opened the door as slowly as possible and let out a relieved sigh when he couldn't see anyone. Not taking chances he quickly got inside and located the network access point, overriding it with the help of the external hard drive he brought that Josh had given to him. 

Hooking up his laptop after the override was completed, he downloaded the floor plan and hacked into the live feed of the cameras scattered around the place to try and locate his friend. There only was a handful of cameras and none of them helped him trying to find Wrench, he could make out the jammer though so that was his next checkpoint.

Turning it off was easy. Too easy. All the guards were on the other side of the warehouse and Marcus couldn't tell why. He was relieved to get communication with his team going on again however. 

"I'm pretty sure they're supplying gangs with guns" Marcus whispered, summarising what he saw and what he could find out about them through their system, "They're keeping the fights going to justify Blume getting his system installed in more houses. Wrench was right, we should have blown the entire place up."

"Told ya" came back a voice, not as familiar because it was usually distorted by a mask. 

"Wrench?!" Marcus exclaimed, relieved to hear his voice. His outburst alerted a nearby guard who needed to be taken down quickly. 

"Where the fuck are you?" Marcus asked, getting away from the unconscious body, spotting a staircase leading down so he followed his instincts and went downstairs. 

"Wrench? You're not with Marcus?" Sitara asked after all they got was silence. Suddenly, there was someone crying out in pain. Marcus thought it was coming through the intercom but it actually came from a room at the very end of the hallway the stairs had led to.

He didn't think, he just ran, slamming his shoulder against the door to open it, taking down a large man in heavy armour with him. 

He had to get a few punches in to make sure he wasn't getting up again before he turned around and spotted a seemingly small figure tied to a chair, head hanging low and the hooded sweater underneath the studded vest hiding their face. 

Marcus knelt down in front of the chair, suddenly realising he knelt in blood. 

"Wrench?" he asked, voice thin. He didn't dare to look up to his friend, scared of what state he might find him in. 

"Marcus" the punk murmured and Marcus threw all fear overboard and looked at him. 

There was blood dripping down from his lip, bruises forming around his nose and right eye that was red from blood dripping into it, probably from a headwound Marcus hadn't found yet. Around his throat, right above his tattoo, two thin red lines were visible and his black clothes hid any other injuries he might have. 

"Fuck, Wrench" Marcus murmured and untied him, catching him in his arms when he fell forward. 

For the glimpse of a moment he allowed himself to just hold him, thankful for the steady rise and fall of his chest pressed close to his heart. He then remembered where they were and it pained him to let go but they had to get out of the warehouse. 

"Listen, Wrench, we need to leave. And we absolutely need to blow up their shit. I want you to hide while I plant the explosives and find a way out of here. After that I'll come and get you and we'll get the fuck outta here, okay?"

Wrench caught the hackers hand with his, "I'm coming with you" he said weakly, refusing to let go. 

Judging by his facial expression, debating his decision was no use so Marcus accepted. It confused him how he didn't mind holding onto Wrench's hand, actually, he really liked it but there was only so much time he could dedicate to thinking about it before they had to get a move on. 

He quickly let the team know about his next steps after finding their lost member while they all expressed some sort of relief upon hearing that they seemed okay.

Planting the explosives was way harder than overriding the system. 

Part of it was because no one knew Marcus was there before while they had found the bodies of the guards Marcus had to get rid of. By now, everyone was on high alert. Second of all, he was noticeably slower with Wrench not being able to walk as fast due to his injuries. 

If he didn't hold on to his hand, Marcus almost felt like he would forget about him being there with him as he was unusually quiet except for a few painful grunts he tried his best to muffle. 

"We can't go back the way we came in, we have to use the main entrance. Which means I'll have to detonate one of the bombs to create a diversion and we have to run. Do you think you can do that?"

Nothing about Wrench's posture seemed convincing to Marcus but he didn't have a choice but to trust his silent nod. He tightened the grip on his hand.

"I'm not letting go" he promised, earning not yet a smile but a thankful look from his friend. 

He was going to get them out of this place. He was gonna make sure they were going to be okay. And then he would yell at Wrench for doing the stupid thing in the first place. 

He pressed the detonator and the first explosion went off. It was loud enough to cause all the guards in their line of vision to frantically go look for the cause so he took his chance, pulling Wrench along, to sprint towards the main doors.

Suddenly something tore their hands apart as the punk fell over a small iron pipe, the clatter too loud for a place where everyone was on high alert. 

"Fuck, I'm sorry M" Wrench apologised, getting back up as fast as possible, eyes widened in shock. Marcus just reached for his hand again to pull him along as he heard shouts and shots fired in their direction. 

He didn't expect the motion detector at the front door and the sound that went off was high pitched and annoying and drew even more attention and he could feel Wrench's grip loosening as his stamina ran out. 

"Come on, we're almost there" he tried to get him to move faster, desperation in his voice. 

They had left the main doors behind them but the open field between the gate and the doors was worse as there was nothing to duck behind. 

Wrench took a shuddering breath and followed Marcus' lead, running as fast as he could, still holding his hand. 

Their hands were sweaty and it was probably more of an obstacle than of any help but no one dared to pull away. 

The hacker detonated the last few explosions at the same time, hoping to buy them some time.

He then managed to get the gate open, tension rising as there were only a few feet between them and the gate but he didn't hear the gunshot and didn't see the armed guard in front of it. 

It all happened too fast, Wrench fell backwards and the guard jumped Marcus, his punches felt like they were shattering the bones of his face and he could taste the blood in his mouth. 

He tried to reach for his Taser, his gun, anything but the guy was too heavy, knocking the air out of his lungs. There were dark edges around his vision as he heard another gun shot and the guard's head exploded before his eyes, body slumping on the ground next to him. 

Cursing and spitting blood Marcus crawled over to the shooter, his friend, who was breathing rapidly, cold sweat coating his forehead. 

They pulled each other up and stumbled the last few steps to the cars. 

"Fuck the van, I'm driving" Marcus said, unlocking the doors and practically pushing Wrench inside before he climbed behind the steering wheel and punched through the gas pedal. 

The voices of Ray, Josh and Sitara were talking over each other, asking for a reply which they hadn't gotten for a good ten minutes, long enough to make them worry. However, Marcus' first and currently only concern was Wrench so he muted the DedSec channel and reached out to the punk in the passenger seat. 

"Come on, talk to me, how are you holding up?" he asked with a pressed voice, with the speed he went he couldn't afford to take his eyes off the road, especially because his glasses were damaged. It was a miracle he could still see something through them.

Wrench coughed a wet cough, undoubtedly bloody and Marcus pushed the pedal even harder, running his third red light. 

"I'm okay. It just… hurts" came the late reply doing nothing to calm the Hacker's nerves.

"I'm cold" Wrench added and Marcus cranked up the heating, still not looking anywhere but straight ahead, too scared to mess up and send their car into an obstacle. 

"Sitara…" the punk mumbled and Marcus felt his grip around him weaken for a second time, frantically asking: "What about Sitara? Come on, Wrench, stay with me, okay?"

"She knows…" he coughed again, slurring his words, "Knows how to treat a wound. Sh'wasanurse. Don't tell her."

"What shouldn't I tell her, Wrench?" Marcus asked, heart beating out of his chest. His entire face was numb with pain but the pain, the uncertainty in his chest was worse. 

He didn't get an answer so he tried again, squeezing Wrench's thigh lightly, "Please, I need you to stay with me, just keep talking to me!"

He knew they were close to HQ. They were going to make it. They had to. 

"I think I'm in love with you" Wrench murmured before his hand let go of Marcus' arm. 

The brakes of the car screeched as he came to a halt, almost driving into the store front of the comic book store. 

"Help, I need help! I'm in front of HQ!" he yelled into the muted channel finally turning around to Wrench whose eyes were shut, blood soaking the fabric of his shirt and vest around his arm and shoulder. 

Sitara was the first one to get to the car.

***

"Is he gonna be okay?" Marcus asked, his bloody, broken glasses on Wrench's workbench while Sitara was cleaning his wounds. 

"He's gonna live" she replied using a pair of tweezers to get rid of a glass shard. 

"Good. That means I can kick his ass."

"Get in line" Sitara said, "Though you deserve an ass kick too for going all silent on us. We thought you were dead!"

Marcus accepted the beer Ray brought over to him, clinking bottles before taking a sip, causing Sitara to roll her eyes. 

"I needed to talk to him. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ignored you guys" Marcus apologised. 

Josh walked over to them, a tablet computer in his hand, showing them the news about the successful mission. 

They highfived each other and for a moment Marcus forgot about his aching face and heart but as he looked over to Wrench laying on the sofa, still passed out, the heartache came back instantly. 

He hadn't had time to think about Wrench's last words to him before he slipped into unconsciousness, between being scared of losing him and Sitara patching him up, trying to calm Marcus down who refused to leave his side. Even now he had moved his chair so he could check on Wrench as much as he wanted to. 

He didn't know if he was being serious, didn't know if he was even talking to him at all. Maybe he was in love with Sitara.

The thought made his heart sink which only confused him more. He didn't want Wrench to be in love with Sitara. Did he want Wrench to be in love with him? 

They had been friends for a while and none of them were shy with touches, pats on the back, hugs and upon thinking about it, Wrench wasn't like that with any of the others. Sure, they were close but why did Marcus feel like the two of them were closer?

He wrote it off as wishful thinking before he realised what that would mean. Wishful thinking. He wished he and Wrench were close. 

Marcus flinched as Sitara lightly dabbed a wet cloth on his face, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"You're all quiet, are you okay?" Sitara asked, softly. The question wasn't meant to be heard by any of the others. 

For a brief moment Marcus contemplated about sharing his thoughts with his team member but quickly decided against it. He had to talk to Wrench first.

"I'm just… Tired. The adrenaline wore off."

He was still worried about Wrench as well but Sitara got that from his continuous glimpses over to the punk without Marcus having to tell her. 

"It's getting kind of late. Maybe we should all try and get some rest" she said, loud enough for the rest of them to hear. 

"What about him?" Ray asked, pointing at Wrench, still passed out on the sofa.

"I can stay and look out for him" Josh offered. 

"You don't have to, I'm staying" Marcus replied, "But thank you, Josh."

Josh shrugged: "His mask needs some rewiring if you're staying up and don't have anything to do."

Right, the mask. Marcus had forgotten about that already.

"Maybe you should try and get some rest as well" Sitara commented but knew better than to send him home. 

"Thanks guys. For being here and not kicking my ass for going AWOL earlier."

"We're saving up for a special occasion, don't worry" Ray winked and lightly hit Marcus in the shoulder, "Glad you're okay."

Sitara hugged him before she followed Ray up the stairs and Josh nodded at Marcus, following Sitara briefly afterwards.

Marcus got up from his chair to get the pair of replacement glasses he kept in his locker before sitting down on the floor next to the sofa, studying Wrench's face.

He liked his face, liked his long lashes, his eyes, in general. He actually liked the birthmark too but he hadn't dared to tell Wrench. He was different without his mask. Shy. Quiet. 

He wore it like an armour protecting him from the world, a shield to hide behind and Marcus understood. The world was scary. But he also wished for Wrench to feel safe enough in it that he didn't need the mask. 

Wrench stirred in his sleep, the movement apparently causing him pain as his expression changed accordingly. 

Marcus thought back to their hug, thought back on how good it felt to hold him in his arms. Not thinking, he reached for Wrench's left hand, interlacing their fingers. 

His skin wasn't soft. Marcus could feel the cuts and burns on his hands that seemed to be a constant company to his fascination with electronic devices, especially with Wrench's work ethic and careless behaviour. His hands bore the scars of being used for his labour and Marcus liked them. He wanted to ask Wrench about every single one of his scars, burns and blisters, wanted to know what he was working on when he got them. 

Knowing Wrench however he would probably call him a sap, cheesy or make crude jokes about it. 

As if he had burned his fingers, he let go of Wrench's hand as he feared him waking up and freaking out about it, unfortunately waking him up indeed. 

His vibrant blue eyes opened slowly, the first thing he saw was the roof of the Hackerspace as he was lying on his back. The first thing he said was "Ouch".

His eyes went around the room trying to take it in without him turning his head. 

Marcus didn't say anything as not to startle him, yet he was biting his tongue, so tempted to speak. 

"Marcus?" Wrench asked, his voice sounded damaged but less hopeless than back at the warehouse.

"I'm right here" Marcus said softly and now Wrench did turn his head. 

"Fuck fuck fuck, massive headache" he realised, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his teeth. He tried to turn to face Markus which also seemed to cause him pain. 

Their noses almost touched and when Wrench opened his eyes again Marcus briefly felt like drowning in them. He gasped trying to get air back into his lungs. 

"Hi" he whispered. 

"Hi" Wrench replied. 

"Thanks for saving my punk ass."

Marcus didn't know what to say. The confusion, the realisation of his mixed feelings about his friend met the anger and frustration built up from the moment he realised what dumb, reckless thing Wrench was about to do. And then did. 

He hadn't yelled at him yet. His anger was taken from him as he couldn't possibly be angry at the quiet, beaten young adult that needed to be saved. That needed to hold onto his hand. 

Even now, he was in pain, covered in bruises, dried blood on his clothes and still not the Wrench Marcus was used to. 

Maybe it was the mask. But maybe something inside of Marcus had changed as well. 

However, Wrench thanking him for saving him shoved away his feelings of sympathy. 

Marcus shook his head, bringing more room between them. 

"The fuck were you thinking? Everyone was worried sick, fuck, you could have died!"

Wrench suddenly seemed to be very aware of his mask missing, not being able to hide his visible distress behind it. 

"I didn't, though" he tried to humour Marcus but it only made him angrier.

"We don't do solo missions like that. We communicate with the team. We don't take risks that shouldn't be taken. You did a stupid, careless, selfish thing and I'm not sure if I can trust you."

Wrench sat up, ignoring the pain searing through his body. His lips were slightly parted and his eyes were shimmering as if he was close to crying. He seemed really hurt by Marcus' words. 

Marcus didn't allow himself to soften his expression. He needed to talk about this right now. He needed to be angry about this right now. 

"Don't you see it?" Wrench asked and his voice was thin and on the verge of breaking, "You could have ended up in the exact same situation! I knew it was going to turn out badly and I just didn't want you to get hurt! Fuck, M, I- Actually I don't think I can do this right now."

A single tear ran down his cheek and he angrily brushed it away making an attempt to get up but Marcus stopped him.

"You don't get to run away, we're having this talk. Now."

"I can't do it, I just need some time on my own, I need to think things over, my head hurts so bad I feel it might explode" Wrench fired back, hiding his face with his hands, fingers digging into his skull. 

He looked tortured and Marcus hated it. 

"Why did you do it? You know what happened to Horatio. What if your fate had been the same? Why the fuck didn't you say something before going in?!" Marcus couldn't help how his words got louder. 

Wrench's hands went around his head now, his fingertips where white by how hard he pressed them into his skin, his scalp, his temples. 

Marcus quickly stepped in, prying them away, as gentle as he could while using the needed force to get it done as the others grip was iron tight. 

The single tear had turned into a steady stream and not being able to cover his face anymore, Wrench tried his best to turn away from Marcus. 

"Why?" Marcus asked again, less angry. Almost pleading.

"It was either you or me! And I couldn't bear the thought of losing you" Wrench confessed and it felt like he crumbled to pieces. 

Marcus wrapped his arms around him, trying to mend the broken pieces back together but he didn't want to hurt him either which kept him from hugging tighter.

"Fucking hell, man. Don't ever put your life over mine, that's not how it works. We could have talked about it. None of this had to happen. I don't know what these fuckers did to you and I'm so fucking sorry but you shouldn't have been there in the first place. We want you safe too. You got everyone worried, even Ray!" it all just spilled out and Marcus just ran with it, trying to calm down the guy in his arms with his words.

"Is it true? What you said earlier? About me being selfish and you not being able to trust me anymore?"

Marcus carefully thought about his answer. 

"Calling you selfish was a stupid 'heat of the moment' thing to say. I shouldn't have said it. And I do trust you. With my life. But I don't know if I trust you with your life based on today."

"I didn't know what else to do. You weren't listening, none of them were" Wrench said matter-of-factly. 

Marcus let go of him to get a better look at his face. His eyes were red from crying and he still avoided the hacker's looks. His hands were shakily fumbling with a button on his vest and he tried to solely focus on that. 

"We should have. Yet we were going to talk about it again. You're Wrench! You can get people to listen to you!" Marcus offered a gateway to their usual talks, a way to escape the heavy atmosphere. 

Wrench didn't take the opportunity but stayed silent. 

"What's going on? For real this time."

Wrench lifted his head and looked him in the eyes, a surge of frustration rushing through his body as he lurched forwards, pressing his lips to Marcus'.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, tasting of tears and insecurity, Marcus tensing up being taken by surprise. Wrench seemed to read that as dislike and recoiled, almost falling over the backrest of the sofa.

"Shit, fuck, I shouldn't have done this, I'm sorry, fuck, I'm- I have to go!"

Marcus was still sitting on the floor while Wrench walked around the space, hastily grabbing a few of his things, visibly wincing in pain but trying to play it over.

"Wrench!" 

The punk turned around with what seemed to be a hopeful spark in his eyes, red embarrassment burning up his cheeks. 

Marcus heart was beating out of his chest again, his palms were sweating and there was a weird sensation in his stomach. 

"Your mask. It's in my bag."

Wrench pressed his lips together to keep them from quivering as the spark went out and he nodded gratefully, taking his mask, almost running up the stairs. If there had been a door allowing to be thrown shut, he would have probably slammed it shut. 

Marcus let himself fall backwards. His head hitting the concrete floor, he stared at the ceiling for a second before he started to cry.

***

Even having his mask back, being able to hide his face beneath it, Wrench behaved differently and everyone noticed.

There was no silly joking around, no carelessly throwing electronic devices through the room, no snarky comments. He showed up on time and left quickly, barely talking to anyone. 

It had been five days since the kiss. Five days they hadn't talked to each other. 

The team noticed the change in temperature of course, it took a toll on all of them as they handled both Marcus and Wrench like fragile freight, afraid any words too harsh would break them. 

Marcus hated it and he couldn't imagine Wrench liking it either. But even worse than the atmosphere in the Hackerspace was the radio silence between Wrench and him. The missing touches, the hugs, the banter and the laughter. 

Five days and there hadn't been a day Marcus didn't regret letting Wrench leave, too scared, too cowardly to confess his own feelings. 

He couldn't take it anymore.

Wrench was just about to leave, carelessly throwing a bag over his shoulder, the painful wince didn't go unnoticed as he must have strained his wound. 

Marcus let a few seconds pass after Wrench had left, enough time to suggest he wasn't following before he did exactly that, jogging across the street and climbing into the passenger seat of the car Wrench was currently driving. Not _his_ car as it was probably stolen.

Wrench jumped in shock and tensed upon registering Marcus next to him. 

"We need to talk" Marcus said, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice about the other's reaction. 

Wrench stayed quiet, not even his led emotes changing. 

Marcus sighed and suddenly Wrench felt like he needed to speak up, explain himself, apologise. His words were hasty and he kept interrupting himself, apologising again and again until Marcus stopped him.

"Would you… Take off your mask? I know it's a lot to ask and it's okay if you don't want to."

Wrench was breathing heavily due to the wall of words that had left him only moments ago. He was contemplating the choice presented to him. 

His hands were jittery and it took him a few tries to get the mask off. He placed it in his lap, staring out of the car's windshield.

His bruises had changed colours from dark purple to a greenish-yellow. They were healing. At least his outside was. 

"I hate how that night went" Marcus broke the silence. 

"I know, I'm sorry. I don't know why I did it and if I could turn back time, I would. You're my best friend and I fucked this up so bad, I hate mys-" Marcus interrupted him: "I wouldn't."

Wrench turned his head to look his friend in the eyes. 

"What?"

"I wouldn't turn back time to make you take it back. But if I had another chance, I would have reacted differently."

"How?" Wrench held his breath, hands tightening their grip around his mask. 

"Can I get another chance?" Markus was leaning over the middle console, staring into Wrench's eyes. 

Wrench closed the distance between them again. He was slower this time, fighting with himself internally, yet unable to resist the seemingly gravitational pull. 

He closed his eyes and hoped. He didn't know what he hoped for as he tried not to melt into the kiss when something changed.

Marcus kissed back. 

He kissed him back, reaching out, hands suddenly on Wrench's cheeks, behind his neck, pulling him closer, deepening the kiss. 

Marcus' kiss turned into multiple kisses, impatient, hungry, like their touches were his air and his hands caressed Wrench's cheeks lovingly and it was so much, too much and Wrench broke away, gasping as he forgot to breathe. 

Marcus spotted the tear before Wrench felt it and instantly, his eyes widened in shock.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, panicking.

Wrench shook his head, his hands over his mouth, lips still tasting like _Marcus_. He had kissed him back. 

"I have never felt… So much" he confessed and Marcus closed his eyes, relieved, only for a moment because he couldn't stop looking at Wrench. 

"I was scared. I'm sorry I hurt you" he apologised but Wrench had already climbed over to the passenger side, basically sitting on Marcus' lap, pulling him into a tight hug.

"I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. Is it okay to say that? Because I want to scream it and scream your name and I want to kiss you again."

Marcus laughed, infecting Wrench and it was the first genuine laugh in a while which made it so special but even more special was their laughter turning into another kiss, Wrench pressing closer against him, showering him in kisses, whispering his name over and over again.

"I love you too" Marcus said, folding his arms on Wrench's back to keep him pressed to himself and he really allowed himself to take it all in, all the feelings washing over him. 

"Don't let go" he whispered. 

Wrench looked him in the eyes.

"I won't. I promise."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, comments and kudos make my day!
> 
> This is my 42nd work and my Douglas Adams loving little heart is crying out in joy.
> 
> I have a twitter (@ajayalive) and depression haha.


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